Coal-washing apparatus



Jan. 27, 1931. w. c. MENZIES COAL WASHING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26. '19:?

Ill WF I I INVENTOR.

A TTORNEY.

fi a 0'0 U a H 0 m a u U J W x u H B M o l 0:- M W 2 2 v 5.5... Iva 6 w I O Q G I .0 0... all...

1 2 H 1 0 A 0 9 n w Patented .lmzz 1931 .fi-TATEfi T? FE ELCFE 1 r I L IAMC; rifimsYnvAmA I I a I I I COAL-WASHING PAiz s r I Appticetion m itebl u aty @1 27. S eria l 1 To. 171,1 1: s My inventien relates to coal Washing'ep- In the drawing 7 aaratusand has fdr its 'ob'ect enefall to F i fl is a view inlon 'itudinal section of a provlde novel means for lllCITBilSlIlg' the 'ei ficoal Weshmg app ratus centelnlng lmprovev'cievncy ff 'ch apparatus inopration. ments constituting the inventien; 7 .e '7 5 It also has far itsiobJecjt to pro-vlde' novel Flg. 2' 1s a vlevv, partly 1n hQT-lZOIlilitl secmeans lace-ted above and adjfzicent to the slate tionahd partly'in'top' plan r I discharge opening Which'gtids inreygulating Fig. 3 is a, t p plan View of ejfregmenltary the discharge Of'such' refitseand which @0- poitipn'ef ajscreenplziite prdvided fivi thholes acts with the upwardly oving body of water therethfom lgh eeeordan'ee [with the invejn Within the tank of theepparetusfin gt'iv'ay'to n n';and e effect a more-eificient sepafatien Qf'the'cogll Figffis a simflarview showing affragfrom the i'efnse at that -pm'iticnlai point 'in menta r v portion of A screen of slightly the apparatus endjoftheqp'eretidn. e- V ferent eenstrnleti on; V

Another object of the invention isto pro- In the drawings I have shown a tank desigvide means which opemtes to control the dis- Hated :isfa" Whole by the numeral l Wh v charge of refuse fronithe c0211 efteriit has tank is divided into e01npart1 nentsf2,3 end i been separatedtherefirem' vhez ehy the screen flc by means of fpei tit ie'n Walls 5 endfi; pf ;p1 1te," O I ltOi\ VhiCh fthemixtnre of cnal vand thesecoinpa rtments are conimnnicetidn refuse is ideliv efed tofbe' wished, maybe, See through d-penings 7 and 8, theyforme'r consti- 25 mud or otherielogginggmtteri al is fqreh nbgg p g ti b1 V of slate'andetherimpurities frmiithe coin- F Y Am e-o jec @i-n mv nmni p p- P-m m 2' .i b th w w m m Yide escreenbettqln of sneh fihflilihl': that which is 1; moved by theendles'seenveyozr the elogginge'fthellbles therethrgngh with 1n yvell known menner. I y fit d, The coal to bejva' s'hed and separated from glstill funtl ief ghject offjthe iinven ip n fto he refuse matter, including; s1e-te, reek su1-- providg i g gf' l q j e'delivi ypf jp hnr 'cqmpenndse' nd the like, is delivered -h -c moe fili -t pp ra u hee et? h o wmenw ,r i hut The by theefiiciency ind the speed 'df theWashing deh r the 3 3 3 5 905 2 19 refe lvgpemtion:areincreasaL f re nthe chute 1s centrolled hjygen-ed nsteble Toihese and other endsthejnventioncomgate 1 ed e meet 2 .1 ee' e ma b prehendsfilecqnstmcticmflnd Mmpgemnt effected 1 x1 any preferred ,hnown lnann er. .01 parts as hereinafter 'descnihediine detail, Q- descgnd's lgto i t pointed out inthe clailns and asilhlstmted fug 'i? Way f IDQ bQQJI. F 7 in =tl 1edrawing in which a seal-Washing jap- 1-6131 "=l3-t t Para-tus eontninin 'fthe improvements .COnupfm' OWel find-O di i ts an 7 T .4 adjustable 'ate 01' baffle nlate 14. The coal ew F1 when es v r dmeme mess is] anivei eerenao the s x-e 11 e r It mb e pdilwt e We 9 p1etej15; {By ed usemme the gates 1235a e e ept q e b d men 9 h 9 14 the material to be trezited Inav b e delivered of constructlon than that shown and that Y v w n fat arete to c rres ond with the Ca jacit of changesmthe detgllsof constructlqn lngy be fl a tu made xvithlnthesqopeofthe ql -im jvi hpi vV ater preferably under constant pres Yde PmT Pgf m li eseid iiix pt gnl it ip f psemis delivered ff omga' 'pipe QO int th M s- @1121? t mwne pm e h 'c mmrtmentQimd rnwthth P through these gates, travels along chutes in screen which is inclined from the rear toward the front or dehvery end of the ap-- pa'ratus as is clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The vertical width or height oftheopen- 7 plate 15 strikes the mixture of'coal and refuse material, and the former being of less specific gravity than the latter, is caused to move upwardly, while the refuse being of greater specific gravity, moves downwardly along the said plate and is discharged through the opening 7. he coal is carried upwardly and forwardly over the upper edge of the plate 23 onto a transversely extending plate comprising a ridge or elevated portion 25 at its center, the apex ofwhich is located at approximately the medial line of-the structure. The opposite sides of the ridge slope in opposite directions so that the coal which falls thereon is caused to move laterally in opposite directions into position to "pass outwardly through the openings 26 at the opposite sides of the portion of the compartment above the transversely extending plate comprising the ridge 25 previously referred to. In order to control the height of the water in the compartments 2 and 3 I have provided an opening controlled by agate 30 as shown in Fig. 1.. The coal discharge openings 26 are adapted to be controlled by means'of adustable gates 31. The coal, after it passes known manner, the bottoms of which are perforated as indicated at 33 so that the water which flows out through the discharge openings 26 escapes therethrough onto a plate 34, from which it flows into a tank 35 .from which it is withdrawn by means-of a pump (not shown) through a pipe 36 and returned through a pipe 20 to the lower porion of the compartment 2. 7 v For the purpose of effecting a more efficient separation of the coal and the refuse which may be present the-rein I have provided a plate 40 which is secured by-means of a flange 41 to the adjustable gate 21 a short distance above the lower edge thereof. The gate 21 is inclined slightly in the direction as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawing. andin the construction shown the plate i0 extends at right angles thereto towards the rear in a downwardly inclined direction. The angle ofsuch inclination depends upon the angle made by the gate 21 with a vertical plane. TheplatelO preferably is unperforatechalthough it may he perforated if desired. It extends over the lower portion of the screen ilate 15 and together witn the lower edge portion of-the gate 21 co-operates with the said plate to form what maybe described as a partially closed chamber in front of the lower edge portion of the-gate 21 within which the refuse is adaptedto collect to a greater or less extent. 1

To effect a more eflicient separation of the coalfr'om' the refuse I prefer that alternate openings 42 in the rows of openings 43 which are located below the plate 4-0 shall be considerablyv enlarged so that the water may flowfreely and with greater volume and force therethrough, In the plate as shown in Fig.3, eventhe smaller openings {l4 are of somewhat larger size than is usually employed in order that the clogging of the said openings or holes is less likely to occur. The presence ofthe' larger openings 42 previously referred to permits the water to flow in grantee-volume and force through the lower portion of the scrce-nwhere the-quantity of refuse content is greater, in consequence of which thereis a greater resistance to the flow of water upwardly through the screen. The increased volume and force of the flow of water upwardly through the lower portion of the screen causes anycoal which may have found itsway into the space underneath the plate 40 to travel upwardly into theportion of the tank 2 above the. screen plate 15 and the plate 40. Also the freer flow of the water through the lower portion of the plate as described, as well as through other portions thereof due to slightly enlarged holes 4:2,elfects greater agitation-0r movement of the relatively heavy refuse per tion of the mass being treated, in consequence U of which the coal is more thoroughly.separated and removed therefrom.

In the beginning of the operation, if the gate 21 be closedor practically closed so as to prevent the discharge of refuse matter therefrom a portion thereof will bank up underneath the plate 40 so that when the said gate is opened refuse alone will be discharged without the admixture of any coal therewith.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a slightly modified constructionof-the screen plate in which the openings 50 are smaller than the corresponding openingsa lin the plate shown in Fig. 3. For the purpose of compensating for the smaller openings 50, I have provided in the first, fourth, seventh and tenth rows larger. openings 51 at intervals as shown. The presence of these openings permits an acceleration of the upward flow of water through the screen plate to thereby effect complete and elficient separation of the coal from its impurities.

Valves 52 and53 are provided for removing slushfrom the compartments 2 and 3 of the tank 1 and from'the tank 35 respectively,

It has been found that by adjustingthe gate 12 soas to regulate the delivery of coal with its admixture of refuse matter to the compartment 2'in quantity corresponding to the capacity of the apparatus, more efficient and more rapid separation may be effected.

7 a tank having an inclined screen plate mounted therein, means for discharging water through said screen plate'under sub-' stantially constant pressure, said screen plate being provided with means whereby the flow of water therethrough is greater at its lower end portion than at the upperend portion thereof, and means for controlling the delivery of mineral to said apparatus to correspond to the capacity thereof.

6. Apparatus for separating the relatively heavy constituents from minerals comprising a tank having a screen plate mounted therein, means for discharging water through openings of different sizes formed in said screen plate under. substantially constant pressure, means for causing a bed of said heavy. constituents to accumulate on said screen plate, portions of which are thicker than. other portions thereof, the said openings being relatively larger in'the region of said thicker portions of said bed of heavy constituents than in the remaining portions thereof, and means for controlling the delivery of mineral to said apparatus to correspond to the capacity thereof.

7. Apparatus for separating the heavy constituents from minerals comprising a tank having a screen plate mounted therein, means cooperating with said. screen plate for causing a bed of said heavy constituents to accumulate thereon, means for forcing water through perforations formed in said screen plate under substantially constant pressure, the said perforations being arranged in rows and the perforations of the respectii-e rows located in the lower end portion of the'said plate being alternately relatively large and relatively small, and means for controlling the delivery ofmineral to said apparatus to correspond to the capacity thereof.

8. Apparatus for separating the relatively heavy constituents from minerals'comprising a. tank having a plurality of compartments therein separated by a partition wall, a screen plate mounted in. one of said compartments adapted to convey said heavy constituents to an opening formed in said wall, an adjustable plate for varying the height of said opening having a haflle secured thereto, extending rearwardly tlil-irefron'i above the lower portion of the said screen plate, the said lower portion of said screen plate being provided with a plurality of perforations which are relatively large as compared with the perforations in the upper portion of the said plate, and means for discharging water through said screen plate under substantially constant pressure.

9. Apparatus for separating the relatively heavy constituents from minerals comprising a-tank having a plural ty of compartments therein separated bya partition wall, ascreen plate mounted in one of said compartmentsadapted toconvey said heavy constituents to the other of said compartments through an opening in the said wall, an adjustable plate for varying-the height of the said opening having a baffle, secured thereto extending .rearwardly therefrom above the lower portion of the said screen plate, the sa d lower portion ofsaid screen plate being provided with aplurality of perforatiojns arranged in rows, the perforations of the respective rows beingalternately relatively large and relatively small, and means for controlling the deliveryofmineral to said apparatus to correspond tothe capacity thereof. v

10.. Apparatus for separating the relatively heavy constituents from minerals comprisinga tanklliaving a plurality of compartments therein separated byapartition wall, an inclined screen plate extending across one of the said compartments and adapted to convey refuse matter toan opening formed ments adapted to convey said heavy constitu- 'ents to an opening formed in said partition wall, an adjustable plate for varying the height of said opening having a bafile secured thereto extending rearwardly therefrom, said screen plate having a plurality of perform tions therethrough, the perforations near the lower end portion of said plate being relatively large with respect to those in the upper end portion thereof, and means for controlling the feedof material to be treatedto the said screen plate. I

12. Apparatus for treating coal to separate therefrom impurities of higherspecific gravity than the coal, comprising a tank having a transverse partition'wall dividing the said tank into compartments, the said partition wall having" an opening therethrough for the discharge of impurities separated from the coal, a perforated screen plate extending'across one of said compartments and having its inner edgeportion projected throughthe opening in said transverse partition wall, means for controlling the delivery of coal and impurities onto the said screen plate, means for supplying water 7 under constant pressure to the said compartment underneath the said screen plate, the

' said water flowing upwardlythrough the said screen plate and operating to separate the impurities from the ca1,-the said impurities being discharged through the opening through the said transverse partition Wall,

andmeans whereby the volume and force of i p the flow of water upwardly through the said screen plate in adjoining relation to the said opening through. whloh the lmpurltles are discharged 1s greater than at other portlons of the screen plate.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as myv inventionI have hereunto signed my name this QOthday of January, A. D. 1927.

WILLIAM C. MENZIES; 

